I have posted recently about my digital camera decisions, including a review of the Kodak DX7440 digicam I bought last weekend. I also mentioned at the end of this post the higher-line DX7590 that had me drooling, since it has all the features of the 7440 plus 10x zoom instead of 4X and five megapixels intead of four.

One level down from the 7590 is the DX6490. It retains the 10X optical zoom but gives up the extra 16 “scene” settings both the 7440 and the 7590 have. It keeps portrait, sport, nightshot and PASM modes and, like the 7590, features a high-resolution, through-the-lens, electronic viewfinder (EVF) rather than the 7440’s optical, 87-percent-coverage viewfinder. All three cameras have diopter-focus adjustment of the viewfinder and a 2.2-inch, high-resolution LCD on the back panel and a shuttle dial for adjusting exposure variable in all shooting modes.

Okay, this is a little embarrassing: Sunday night I bought a DX6490, you know, like two days after I bought the 7440. Details on how and why I did it are a little unclear at this point but I assure you I was not under the influence of any substances, spells or incantations. It just sorta, you see, happened, which is exactly the kind of explanation I have never accepted from my kids. The new(er) camera came by UPS Wednesday.

But I am not sorry. My wife will probably wind up using the 7440; she’s never used a digicam before and is probably ready to move on from her ancient Olympus 35mm point-and-shoot.

I explained yesterday why I found the cameras’ “burst of six” mode very useful for the sports photography I do for my son’s track and field team. Yesterday afternoon he competed in Vanderbilt University’s “Great Eight” invitational for the top eight high-school athletes in each event in Middle Tennessee. (Thomas, a junior, competes in discus and shot-put, and I am proud to report that placed third in each, beaten in both events by seniors.)

Taking advantage of HP’s Image Zone Plus software and free online albuming, I have posted eight shots that showcase the image quality of the DX6490. All photos were taken at 4MP resolution and “auto” setting. (I used sport setting for most of the others, but not these.) The linked page is a thumbnail page, click on the thumbnail for a larger view and click on it for a full-screen view. (All photos copyright © Donald Sensing, 2005, other use prohibited.)

I took the 4X-zoom 7440 camera also, but only took three shots with it. I quickly found that once you’ve used ultrazoom you don’t want to go back!

One feature of both the -90 cameras that I like is that the flash is off unless you manually open it. They meter the flash automatically, and warn-light you if flash is needed, but will not pop it open for you. Since both my kids who still live at home are competitive swimmers, this is a great feature. Swim-meet rules prohibit flash photography at the starts because it dazzles off the water and degenerates the swimmers’ depth perception. I’ve been yelled at a couple of times because my old camera’s flash auto fired when I thought I’d turned it off.

Both the -90 cameras also have auto-sleep for the LCD (after one minute) and the EVF (15 seconds) to save power. The EVFs have auto-eye-detect and will turn back on when you raise the camera to your eye. The LCD will awake when you press any button or push the zoom control. Very, very neat and very useful.

In both cameras, the LCD and the EVF display what the photo will actually be because the images for both at through-the-lens, just like an SLR camera. I quickly came to appreciate that feature, too. I am pretty much through with a photo when I press the shutter release. I want to compose through the viewfinder and be done with it. I dislike manipulating images on the computer, even though I know how (and for which Picasa is a great free program, btw).

Doggone it, I still want the 7590 - but not as much as before . . .

Update: BTW, Kodak has a $50 rebate on the DX7590.